


infinity between moments

by 100demons



Category: Bleach
Genre: Fluff, Gen, Post-Soul Society Arc
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-10-02
Updated: 2014-10-02
Packaged: 2018-02-19 14:54:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 771
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2392394
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/100demons/pseuds/100demons
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When he woke up, there was a cat curled up on the foot of his bed, reading his copy of the Seireitei Communication Monthly.</p>
            </blockquote>





	infinity between moments

When he woke up, there was a cat curled up on the foot of his bed, reading his copy of the Seireitei Communication Monthly. Byakuya prodded it with his foot and was rewarded with an angry hiss, back arched in a smooth curve.

“Hello,” he said.

The cat twitched its whiskers and went back to reading the paper, ignoring him in the way only cats can. It was an ordinary black cat, if a little skinny and with a raggedy looking tail that looked like it had been the victim of several thoughtless feet.

“If you bring it over here, I can turn the pages for you.”

The cat looked up at him, yellow eyes unblinking.

Byakuya raised a bandaged hand, wiggling his thumb. “You need one to turn pages,” he added helpfully. The cat tilted its head and considered this, tail lashing against his foot. After a moment, it gave in and picked up the copy of the paper with its mouth, padding over to Byakuya’s left side. It was the better one; his right arm was still strapped to his side and swaddled in enough bandages that it looked like a misshapen pillow.

He turned the first page to Yamamoto Genryuusai face and the cat meowed irritably. He turned again, until it settled on Nanao-san’s popular advice column “Please Don’t Get Carried Away,” paw pressed firmly on the corner of the page. Byakuya fell asleep with it curled up against his side, warmth radiating from the tiny little body.

 

* * *

 

Byakuya bore the twice-daily dressing changes with all the dignity he had, which was very little. Hanatarou flinched every time he made eye contact, trying Byakuya’s much tested patience. When the final bandage was replaced, the medic bobbed hastily and left the room with a pile of tattered linen in his hands.

He waited a few moments in the quiet, tilting his ear towards the door. “I am injured, not stupid,” Byakuya snapped, left hand clenched tight in his lap, wrapping still fresh and white. “Whoever you are, stop lurking about. It’s unseemly.”

The door cracked open and a shadow slithered inside silently.

“Oh,” Byakuya said. “It’s you.”

The cat meowed and leapt up onto his bed, twining around Byakuya’s feet. It kneaded the sheets experimentally, sharp claws prickling against his skin.

“No paper today,” he said and closed his eyes. “And I’m not in a very accommodating mood.”

It curled up into a tight ball and began washing its paws, as if it meant to do that all along, the much battered tail coiled around it. It was a distracting bit of warmth and Byakuya cracked one eye open, watching it tidily ignore his existence.

It was mercifully quiet, unlike most of his normal visitors, and clean. Byakuya approved of the care the cat took in its appearance. He made a note to mention it to Renji, who dressed and acted as slovenly as his zanpakuto. Even animals had better manners than his lieutenant.

“Do you have a name?”

The cat’s head swiveled around, black slits narrowing in gleaming yellow eyes. It said nothing, only stared.

“I’m sorry I did not introduce myself earlier,” Byakuya said and inclined his head as much as he was able. “I am Byakuya.”

The cat bared a fang.

Byakuya took this in gravely. “I am reduced to conversing with dumb animals,” he said quietly and his left hand curled into a tight fist. “Perhaps you would humor me.”

It yawned, revealing rows of pointy white teeth and a pink slip of a tongue. Muscles rippled under sleek black skin as it rose up and stretched, claws digging into the mattress. Then it simply sauntered up to Byakuya’s lap and rose up on its haunches, front paws resting on his chest. It looked at him for a long while, the tips of its whiskers grazing his cheeks. There was nothing human about its eyes, only a feral intensity, but Byakuya felt some sort of intelligence in its gaze.

“Do I pass muster?”

The cat meowed and then dropped back down in his lap, curling up into a tight ball again.

They sat together, in quiet silence, as Byakuya counted each quiet breath the cat took, in soft counterpoint to the rise and fall of his own chest.

“I am glad that you came,” he said finally and placed a hand just inches away from its head, whiskers grazing the skin of his fingers. “You remind me of a cat I once knew.”

The cat flicked an ear but otherwise did not stir.

“A very long time ago, there lived a black cat named Yoruichi....”


End file.
